


Amaranthine

by ReallyStressedCollegeStudent



Category: The Flash (TV 2014), The Flash - All Media Types
Genre: F/M, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-25
Updated: 2021-02-24
Packaged: 2021-03-15 19:54:04
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 19,039
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29689113
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ReallyStressedCollegeStudent/pseuds/ReallyStressedCollegeStudent
Summary: She is eternally beautiful, unfading, everlasting, and undying, she is amaranthine. Althea Macleod is a mechanical engineer at the top of her career and in her prime as the leading scientist in the field around the world. In a last minute decision, Althea decides to head to Central City to visit an old friend, and witness the stunning invention called the particle accelerator. Little does she know that this last minute vacation will become far more permanent than expected.
Relationships: Earth-2 Harrison "Harry" Wells/Original Female Character(s), Eobard Thawne | Harrison Wells/Original Female Character(s)
Kudos: 1
Collections: The Flash Shots and Series





	1. Did You Try Turning It On And Off?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **Amaranthine:** She is eternally beautiful, unfading, everlasting, and undying, she is amaranthine. Althea Macleod is a mechanical engineer at the top of her career and in her prime as the leading scientist in the field around the world. In a last minute decision, Althea decides to head to Central City to visit an old friend, and witness the stunning invention called the particle accelerator. Little does she know that this last minute vacation will become far more permanent than expected.   
> **Warnings:** possible language  
>  **To Note:** Harry Wells x OC (it’ll take a little time to get here), A/U to fit plot lines,

“Did you try turning it on and off?” I asked, at my wits end and rubbing my forehead as I sat at the dining table in my hotel room. Seventeen hours after leaving my team back in Tokyo, I was already getting calls of distress from them. 

I didn’t understand how things could end up in chaos so quickly with me not being there. I mean most of my team had at least masters in engineerings. They weren’t idiots, but for some ungodly reason, everything went wrong when I was away. 

“No, I haven’t tried that, we figured it was a problem with the hard drive or the wiring. Possibly a conduit issue, give me a second.” I waited for Mia, one of my engineers who had called me, to turn the device off and then on again. “Huh, it worked…”

They were some of the smartest people on the planet, and forgot the most basic of solutions that often solved so many problems. 

“Is that all Burke? I need to start getting ready for the unveiling.” I asked as I checked my watch. I had a little over an hour to get ready and get myself down to the Star lab.

“Oh that was all, sorry for the inconvenience Dr. Macleod.” Mia apologized before hanging up, tossing my phone on the table I went to the bathroom to take a quick shower. Fifteen minutes later, I was wrapped in a towel and blow drying my brown hair out in soft ringlets. 

There were backstage passes for this event, of course, for those that wanted to spend the money on getting a glimpse at what was hidden away in the Star labs, but as a scientist and engineer myself, I could pretty much guess what was hidden away from public view. 

Labs and equipment that matched mine, beakers, science machines, the best of everything money could buy. An engineers paradise really, and something outsiders rarely saw. With my hair dry and thrown up into a professional ponytail, I left the bathroom and looked in the closet where I had hung my clothes. 

I had an assortment of clothing hanging up, ranging from high end business formal, to street smart casual. Naturally, I could go to the Star event in a blazing path as Dr. Althea Macleod, engineer extraordinaire, the one woman everyone wanted to interview, or I could just go as Althea, simple Althea that simply wanted to make a cleaner, brighter Earth with her inventions.

“Althea, definitely Althea.” I murmured before reaching for my dark blue pants, white shirt with a scalloped neckline, and a casual grey blazer with no buttons. The world usually saw me fully dressed in a suit, not a strand of hair out of place, make up done perfectly, it never saw me looking completely, or at least somewhat, casual. 

Changing into a white underwear and bra set, I decided to put the pants on first. Pulling on the dark blue pants, I weaved a belt into the loops before buckling it around my hips and reaching for the white shirt. The bottom material felt different in my hands from the cloth that usually rested against my skin, a far cry from satin, silk, and lace, but it was comfort at the end of the day. 

Pulling the shirt over my head, I tucked it into my waistline before grabbing the grey blazer and a plain black hair of heels. Dropping the heels by the bedroom door, I went to the full length mirror and swung the blazer around my shoulders. Tugging on the ends, I looked myself up and down. 

Casual enough to get lost in a crowd, but neat enough in the case someone recognized me. I did have a reputation to uphold. Giving the blazer one last tug, I wiggled my feet into the simple black heels before heading into the main area of my hotel room. Grabbing my phone, I slipped it into my back pocket before doing the same with my hotel keycard. 

It was time to head to Star labs and see the device that would revolutionize my, and several others, work. The Star lab building was only a few blocks away from the hotel I was staying in, so I opted to walking the few blocks rather than taking a taxi.

Several other had the same idea, and were walking towards the circular lab building with the growing crowd. Going with the flow, I pulled out my phone and shot a text to Barry.

 **6:21 PM Althea:** Heading to the lab, see you there.

 **6:21 PM Barry:** Hey! This Iris, I’ll have Barry there and on time shortly! ;p

I laughed a little at Iris being the one to text back even though I had texted Barry. It wasn’t unexpected, really, Barry was a little scatterbrained, and was always late at responding, or late in general. But if he was with Iris, he would indeed be on time.

Tucking my phone back were it belonged I hurried through the crowd and walked through the entrance of the large building. Walking through the throngs of crowds, I looked around at the shiny new surfaces of the lab, half jealous of the shine and new smell. 

Milling throughout the crowed, it didn’t take long for me to spot the pair I had come to visit. With a smile on my lips, I headed over to them. 

“Well, well, well, if it isn’t my old friends.” I mused with a broad smile. The both rounded on me with equally big smiles, and with equal gusto, have me big hugs. 

“Thea! You made it!” Iris exclaimed with a beaming smile. “How’s life in Tokyo? Is the sushi really that good?” 

“It’s better than good,” I returned with a laugh. “And life is great, except my team seems to be reduced to toddlers in a high tech laboratory every time I take a leave of absence, I got a call an hour ago in which the solution was to turn a computer off, and then on again.” 

“Yeah, you big brains are sometimes not as smart as you think you are,” Barry interjected, slipping in to get his own hug. I gave him a squeeze. 

“Speaking of labs, how is yours?” I asked him, picking at his neat hair in a motherly way. “You haven’t been overworking yourself, have you?” 

“He has,” Iris cut in, giving Barry a look. “Despite me and dad telling him to slow down, that’s Barry Allen for you though.”

“Somethings never change, do they,” I sighed, running hand down Barry’s face. “You know I try not mother you, but I swear you make me feel like one anxiety riddled mother trying to deal with a spastic, ADHD riddled toddler twenty four seven.”

Barry winced at the image before leaning down and pressing his forehead into my shoulder. I patted him on the head before looking at Iris. 

“So, how’s the dissertation coming along?” Iris rolled her eyes and let out loud groan before launching into the tale of her current troubles, basically how long it was taking, while we waiting for the beginning speech to start. 

“…and right now I feel like I’m growing a very nice muffin top.” She finished, patting her waist. 

“Sounds like you need a vacation from life, my overly stressed, yet still very cute, friend.” I told her, my lips twitching. “Because I can tell you, when I was doing my thesis project, I didn’t stress this much about it, and no, Iris, it doesn’t look like you’ve gained weight.”

“How did you ever do it?” Iris asked, a whine in her voice. “I mean you’ve literally got it all! Perfect skin, beautiful hair, a killer body, and the brain of Einstein, how the hell are you still single.” 

“She’s married to her work, remember, besides I think she’s still got time.” Barry pipped in, Iris gave him a look. 

“Not at this rate,” She huffed, gripping her bag before turning back to me. “I mean, you’re gorgeous, and at thirty two, shouldn’t you be thinking about getting a boyfriend or something?” 

“Just because I’m eight years older than you two, doesn’t mean you need to point it, and my single life, out,” I muttered while Barry raised his eyebrow.

“Says the woman who has a habit of mothering me.” I shot him a look. 

“And I have every good reason to Bartholomew Allen.” I retorted, raising my own eyebrow. “You are literally an over charged galvanic cell of scientific thoughts with no conduit to channel that energy.”

“Okay, I am not going to pretend to know what a galvanic cells is, but I’m pretty sure it just means you’re hyper.” Iris said, turning to Barry. “But then again, how are you always late to things?”

Barry at least had the decency to look mildly ashamed at the obvious fact that, yes, he was notoriously late to everything. Iris and I had long since gotten into the habit of telling times at least fifteen minutes earlier than needed to get him somewhat on time, and even then he could still be late. 

“Oh, oh, here he comes!” Iris exclaimed, smacking Barry’s stomach in excitement. The three of us turned to the stage to see a dark haired man dressed in a simple dressed down business suit, no tie, heading for the podium. The crowd settled down so he could speak. 

“For those of you who don’t know me…” He started in an alluring smooth voice one might listen too in a lazy winter afternoon in front of a fireplace. My eyes scanned his face, noting that his eyes, which were a sharp blue, were indeed like the pictures I had seen of him. “My name is Harrison Wells. Tonight... the future begins. The work my team and I do here will change our understanding of physics. It will help us bring about advancements in power and medicine. I want to live in that future. And I want you all to join me...”

My thoughts were cut off as I was shoved aside, making me stagger a few steps. My head whipped up to see a guy running off with Iris’s laptop back. 

“Hey! My laptop! It’s got my dissertation!” Iris exclaimed, Barry immediately took off after him, and I soon when to follow him only to be stopped my Iris. 

“No, this could actually help your work, Thea, stay. At least one of us can enjoy this.” She said before running off. Letting a sigh of irritation, watched as she disappeared after Barry. 

“The whole point of me coming was so the three of us could actually spend some time together, Iris,” I murmured out loud even though she was long gone. “Fine, fine, I’ll just absorb as much of this as I can then.”


	2. The Bigger Picture

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **Amaranthine:** She is eternally beautiful, unfading, everlasting, and undying, she is amaranthine. Althea Macleod is a mechanical engineer at the top of her career and in her prime as the leading scientist in the field around the world. In a last minute decision, Althea decides to head to Central City to visit an old friend, and witness the stunning invention called the particle accelerator. Little does she know that this last minute vacation will become far more permanent than expected.   
> **Warnings:** possible language  
>  **To Note:** Harry Wells x OC (it’ll take a little time to get here), A/U to fit plot lines.

Well after Dr. Wells speech, I ended up wandering around the room that was open to the public for the event, looking up at the structure and noting the specific build was specially designed to provide structure support for the particle accelerator. 

It was clever, very clever, the very design of the Star lab centered around the building of the accelerator, miles of wires, circuitry, and engineering had been hidden behind concrete, glass, and sleek metal. Usually engineers had to build around the building, or room, they were contracting their project in. 

But Star labs had literally been built around the particle accelerator instead, a total reverse of what was normally done. Genius if you asked me, genius, and very expensive, but this technology would change the world for better. The amount of money thrown into this place was trivial in comparison of what it would bring. 

“Uh, excuse me?” A soft voice asked to my left, my eyes dropped from the beams over head that surely concealed running wires to see a young hispanic man, barely over twenty standing timidly next to me. His eyes widened as I looked him in the eyes. “I knew it was you! Oh my God! This is like, literally the best day of my life!”

I raised an eyebrow, my lips twitching into a half smile.

“But what are you doing here, I thought— your lab is in Tokyo isn’t it? What’re you doing in the states?” 

“Popped by for a visit,” I explained, my smile slowly growing. “Then decided to visit since the particle accelerator would be life changing for my work, and why not come when it is due to be turned on?”

“Althea Macleod decided to pop by for a visit,” He whispered in reverence, his eyes still wide. Then he seemed to remember that he had yet to introduce himself. “Oh I am so sorry, Cisco Ramon, I work with Dr. Wells.” 

“Pleasure to meet you Mr. Ramon,” I greeted, offering my hand to shake. He shook my hand, excitement clear in his eyes as two others, Dr. Wells, and a woman, walked over. “I suppose you already know who I am, and between us, I’m trying to stay on the DL.”

“You. Are. So. Cool!” He squealed at Dr. Wells and the woman came to a stop next to Cisco. Cisco, practically vibrating were he stood, turned to the woman, and pointed at me. “Do you have any idea who she is?!”

“I take it you’ve read a couple of my papers?” I asked with a small laugh. Cisco turned back to me, puffing his chest slightly. 

“A couple… I’ve read all over them!” He countered before clearing his throat and collecting himself. “Dr. Wells, Caitlin, this is Dr. Althea Macleod, she is like, the smartest, most brilliant, mechanical engineer on the planet and we are blessed to be in her presence.”

Letting out a small laugh, I gave the two a smile and a polite nod. 

“Pleasure to meet you,” I greeted before looking specifically at Dr. Wells. “I look forwards to seeing the particle accelerator in action, as you mentioned, it will add huge advancements in my field.” I paused before continuing. “Though I suppose I cannot thank you for the work load it will bring, I’m already waist deep in my current project.”

Dr. Wells let out a laugh, exposing dimples and a brilliant smile.

“That’s the first I’ve heard of someone complaining about it brining too much work.” He chuckled while I softly laughed along with him. “You are based in Tokyo, are you not?”

“Mhmm,” I agreed with a nod. “That’s where most of my staff live, so I relocated to make things easier, doesn’t mean I understand the language, but if work gets done… I’ll deal. Besides, I get the parts for the project in hours, rather than days there.”

“What are you currently working on, if you don’t mind me asking?” 

“Zero friction electromagnetic propulsion and suspension transportation that has no carbon footprint,” I answered, rubbing the back of my neck. Caitlin got a glazed look over her eyes while Cisco’s eyes went wide and he started vibrating with excitement again

“Sorry, for us non mechanical engineers, what does that mean?” Caitlin asked.

“She’s making a hover car!” Cisco said excitedly, bouncing foot to foot like a toddler who has just been told he’s going to Disneyland. “A freaking hover car!” 

“That’s one way to put it.” I chuckled in response. “And it’s a lot more complicated than calling it a hover car. We have to take in consideration weight, size, power source, magnetism, the list goes on hence why we’re swamped, but it’s nothing like what you’ve built.”

“Don’t sell yourself short, Dr. Macleod,” Dr. Wells said with a small smile. “Clean emission transportation will change the world forever, and that is just one step towards a brighter future.“

“Spoken like a scientist who doesn’t have a problem with his ego, I can see why everyone has glowing reviews of you and your work.” He chuckled before shaking his head.

“I see the bigger picture, unlike some of my counterparts.” He answered before checking his watch. “It’s almost time to turn the particle accelerator on.”

“Then I won’t take up any more of your time, Dr. Wells.” I said, taking a step back and grabbing my right wrist. He studied me for a second or two before cocking his head.

“Care for an up close look at the machine itself?” Dr. Wells asked, pushing his glasses up his nose from were they had fallen. My eyes widened a fraction of an inch before I raised an eyebrow. 

“Who am I to refuse a once in a life time offer.” I told cooly him before drumming my fingers on my blazer sleeve before curving my lips into a half smirk. “But do you really want me in your lab? I can be quite a nitpick.” 

“Something tells me you like what you’ll see,” He responded, returning the half smirk, and with that, I was hooked. 

“Lead away, Dr. Wells,” 

*****

Things were going wrong, very wrong, and I had dived in to help. The particle accelerator had been turned on, and for forty precious minutes, the impossible had been achieved. Then things started to go sour. The energy levels started going haywire, running erratic, and uncontrollable. Outside the lab, the night sky turned violent as a thunderstorm erupted and heavy rain pounded Central City. 

“Are the power levels still rising!?” I asked from where I was standing, trying to work the controls of a computer to shut off the particle accelerator. 

“Absolutely!” Cisco shouted back. “They’re only getting stronger and none of the failsafes we have in place are working!”

“What about a manual shut off!?” Cisco looked at me like I had grown a second head. Manual shut off wouldn’t take care of the energy already produced, but it would stop the accumulation of more, leading to a deadlier situation. 

“That’s too dangerous!” Cisco shouted back as Caitlin watched on. Dr. Wells had rushed off to try to shut down the particle accelerator from a different location. 

“We don’t have much of a choice at this point in time!” I tossed back before turning around and running to the console he was working on. “I need you to set up a pulsating burst from the energy dampeners one millisecond before the particle accelerator does.”

With that, I ran out of the room heading for the deeper parts of the lab where I could get my hands on the wires and cables. Midway there I practically collided with Dr. Wells. He steadied me on my feet. 

“Manual shut down?” He asked over the racket of the storm and haywire. I nodded vigorously in return. He took my elbow and started leading me through the building at a fast pace. We reached an access ladder that went down beneath the viewing platform I had been on not that long ago. 

Carefully, I climbed down the rungs to the mid level between the energy ring below, and the platform above. Not waiting for Dr. Wells, I started ripping the panels covering the wiring and cable from the wall. 

“How are the electron levels?” Dr. Wells asked as his shoes finally hit the metal floor. He then walked over to me and started yanking out wires and cables, pulling out a pad as he did so. 

“Levels are still rising, none of the failsafes are equipped to handle such power.” I answered over the chaotic screeching of metal and whirr of the particle accelerator. “I’d be impressed by the energy output if I wasn’t so damn worried about failure of the surrounding structure! How the hell is this thing putting out so much energy?” 

“You’ll be the first to know when I figure it out!” He responded as his fingers flew over the touch screen of the pad in his hands. I finished pulling wires and cables out of the way, and dug my hands into the control panel at the back which housed the switches and wires for the manual shut off. 

“I’ve got my hands on the controls,” I told him, he pulled up something on the pad before looking at the jumble of wires. 

“First, you need to pull the auditory and auxiliary wires simultaneously.” My fingers reached for the adjacent wires, feeling the markings above that signaled the wires were what they were. In one fluid and swift movement, I yanked them. The building lights flickered and the sound of the haywire particle accelerator changed. “Next, the internal inertial dampeners for the ring, there should be three, they need to be pulled in reverse of installment.”

“What direction?” I questioned, my fingers lightly running over the markings until I found the indicated wires.

“Right to left.” Find the three wires, I pulled the one after the other, from right to left. “There should be a switch all the way to the right, you need to flip it to halt the rotation process.”

Just as I was reaching to feel for the switch, static electricity started running through the air, making it crackle. I looked at the physical bursts of electricity I shouldn’t be able to physically see before flicking the switch and drawing my arm out. I exchanged looks with Dr. Wells before reaching up to connect two wires that should, in theory, cause a chain reaction that will force the particle accelerator into a dormant state. 

When I peeled back the protective covering of the wires, the building gave an enormous shudder along with the platform underneath our feet. I staggered back a few steps, my lower back hitting the guard rail. My hands reached back and grabbed onto the railing as the metal beneath my feet started shuttering. 

“Oh no,” I breathed as the familiar sounds of metal groaning under stress and pressure, a clear sign something was about to break. It was that point the railing that I had staggered back into broke and I started falling back. 

My arms flailed in the air as I started dropping backwards into open air. With the fastest reflexes I had ever seen, Dr. Wells’s dropped the pad and shot forwards, his hand closing around one of my wrists and yanking. 

My backwards falling motion was halted and I suddenly found myself rocketing forwards with a startled gasp. I slammed into his chest, his arm wrapped around my back as the metal beneath our feet continued to rattle and shake. I only had a millisecond to look up into his face before the floor beneath us completely gave way, and we both started to free fall.


	3. It Was An Accident

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **Amaranthine:** She is eternally beautiful, unfading, everlasting, and undying, she is amaranthine. Althea Macleod is a mechanical engineer at the top of her career and in her prime as the leading scientist in the field around the world. In a last minute decision, Althea decides to head to Central City to visit an old friend, and witness the stunning invention called the particle accelerator. Little does she know that this last minute vacation will become far more permanent than expected.   
> **Warnings:** possible language  
>  **To Note:** Harry Wells x OC (it’ll take a little time to get here), A/U to fit plot lines.

I don’t remember falling from the platform, or hitting ground, or the bright flash as the particle accelerator blew up.

I only remember waking up with a mother of all headaches and the distant wails of sirens. Coughing on the smoke filled air, I blinked my eyes open to see a mess of twisted metal, cable and melted wires. 

Groaning from the pounding in my head, I did my usual checklist after an experiment went wrong.

“Hands and fingers,” I mumbled, pulling myself into a sitting position. I held them in front of me and saw that I still had them, though they were scratched and bleeding in places. That was fine. “Legs, feet, and toes.”

I had lost my heels in the fall, naturally, and my pants were ripped, but I could still wiggle my toes. Everything was in working order, for now. I was fine, but where was… my eyes caught sight of the still form of Dr. Wells.

I scrambled on my hands and knees over to him, like me, his suit was ripped, covered in soot and dirt. Nearly, fire burned churning up more soot and ash. More electricity crackled over head as I bent over Dr. Wells.

“Dr. Wells, Dr. Wells!” I called as I grabbed his face, it was riddled with cuts, probably mirroring mine. His glasses had long since been knocked from his face, I started gently slapping the side of his face. “Come on, wake up, wake up!” 

Blue eyes blinked open, and instant relief flooded my veins. 

“Oh thank god,” I breathed out, leaning back on my shins. “Hands, fingers, legs, feet and toes?” 

He lifted his hands and wiggled his fingers, they moved perfectly fine, a few seconds later a stressed frown appeared on his face along with controlled panic. 

“I— I can’t feel my legs.” 

“Shit,” I muttered before the ground beneath my shins shuddered again. Overheard, the residual energy from the explosion rippled throughout the air and seconds later a second explosion ripped through the lab. The skylights completely shattered, rain and glass started to fall towards us. 

In an impossible act, shattered glass and water mixed together, hovering in the air in bubbles as if the gravity in the room has suddenly decided to stop working. My own hair lifted up as static electricity fizzled, it felt like time had stopped.

“What sort of gravitational affect could cause that?” Dr. Wells groaned, shifting his body in front of me. Seconds after he voiced his question, the water and glass stopped hovering in the air and plummeted downwards. Letting out a gasp, I lurched forwards and threw my upper body over his, covering him from the falling glass. 

Sharp glass and droplets of water hit my back and skin as the storm raging outside suddenly started pouring into the lab. My back, which ached in dull pain from the fall, erupted as little bits of glass, like little bullets, tore through my blazer and shirt, burying into my back along with my exposed skin. 

My arms trembled underneath my weight as water quickly soaked my body, and glass stopped raining down on us. The water running off my body sooner turned crimson as my blood mixed with rain. 

“Dr. Macleod, your—” Dr. Wells said, moving once more.

“Stop,” I ordered sharply, he instantly ceased all movement. I crawled to his head, settling back on my shins with a grimace as I gently took his head to keep it steady. “You probably have some sort of spinal injury, you need to remain perfectly still, okay?”

“As you wish, Dr. Macleod.” I let out a strained chuckle. 

“You can call me Althea, at this point,” I told him, straining out a smile as I shivered from the cold rain. That very action made my back blaze in pain from the glass embedded in my skin. “I think surviving an accident of this magnitude brings people together, does it not?”

“Then I insist that you call me Harrison, Althea.” He replied, looking up at me with sparkling blue eyes. “I suppose there goes my chance at asking you for coffee to discuss your work and the possible applications of the particle accelerator.”

Giggling in return, I chewed my lower lip as I shook my head. 

“You don’t need a particle accelerator to invite me for coffee, Harrison.” I answered, brushing a line of blood from his temple away with my thumb. “You just need to bring that big, fascinating brain of yours.”

“Well then…” He drawled out with a small laugh before groaning in pain. “Coffee? I happen to know a very good coffee shop.” 

“We can make that happen as soon as you’re up on your feet again, Harrison.” I replied softly, before looking up at were we had fallen from. “We first need to get out of here.”

**Two Weeks Post Accident**

Walking through the hallways of the private section of Central City Hospital, I had a coffee carrier with two drinks nestled into the recycled material along with Harrison Wells’s book tucked underneath my arm. 

It had been a total of two weeks since the incident with the particle accelerator, and two weeks since Harrison had ended up with paraplegia, he could no longer use his legs. He still felt some sensations, but those were more towards the trunk of his body. He wouldn’t be walking again. 

Now he was recovering in the hospital from other injuries until he was strong enough to return home. I had a multitude of wounds on my back from the glass that had rained down on us, and would be left with scars, but other than that and a knock to my head I was fine. Reaching the private hospital room he was in, I knocked on the door before poking my head in.

“Pardon the intrusion, Dr. Wells,” I greeted with a warm smile, he looked up from the book he had been reading, his blue eyes meeting mine before a small smile appeared on his face. “May I come in?” 

“Althea! Come in, come in,” He said, placing a book mark in his spot and closing the book. Letting myself into the hospital room, I softly closed the door behind me. I went the chair next to the hospital bed and sat down before pulling the coffee from the carrier. 

“I have to admit, I may have gone to Mr. Ramon to get your coffee preference.” I said with a small smile before presenting the cup to him. “Coffee from Jitters, since our coffee date is over due at this point.” 

“I’m sure Cisco was all too agreeable at coughing up my preference when it was his idol asking him,” Harrison responded, taking the cup. “He worships the ground you walk on.” 

I snorted before taking a sip of my own coffee. 

“Believe me, I know, I got a glance at his workspace.” I returned with a wry smile. 

“Ah, I take it you saw his shrine?” He chuckled at me. I let out a soft groan, shaking my head while pressing my lips together. 

“Not something I’ll be unseeing for a while.” I said, rotating my coffee cup in my hand. “Brilliant kid though, especially for his age, I see great things in his future.”

“That he does,” Harrison replied before studying me. After a few seconds, he reached up and brushed the hair away from my left temple, revealing the partially shaved area where I had cracked my head open. Stitches held the skin together. “That’s quite a wound, Althea.” 

I shrugged at him as he tucked hair behind my ear. 

“It’ll heal,” I told him with a small smile. “I’ve been told I’ve got a hard head, besides, I walked away with that, stitches in my back, and a bunch of scratches, you… not so much.” 

“I’d say I walked away from the accident, but considering I can’t walk anymore, I won’t.” He countered. “I’m alive, that’s more than those that lost their lives from the accident.” 

I took his hand and gave it a squeeze. 

“And you realize that is exactly what it was, right?” I asked, raising my eyebrow. “An accident? I looked over the readouts myself, no one could have predicted those energy outputs unless they could see into the future. It could have been a lot worse than it was Harrison.”

“I know,” He sighed before rubbing his face with his other hand. “But Fema has closed down the lab, labeled it a hazardous site. Who knows how many years it’s going to take for us to recover… if we ever do.” 

“Well,” I started, glancing down at our hands before looking back up. “I have a feeling that Dr. Harrison Wells won’t stay down for long. You’ll figure something out, I’m sure of it.” 

“You seem awfully confident of that,” I gave him a challenging look. 

“Am I wrong?” He chuckled in response. “Great, now that that’s been dealt with…” I lifted my copy of his book at thumped it down between us. “Can I get a free signature out of you?”

He laughed before taking the offered pen and opening the front cover, he wrote something on the title page before closing it and handing it back to me with the pen. 

“There you go, Dr. Macleod.” I took the book and set it on the bedside table before taking another sip of my coffee. “I didn’t take someone as esteemed as you for someone who’d want a signature.”

I shrugged at him, giving him a partial smirk. 

“What can I say, I like bragging rights,” I responded as I got comfortable. “Call me petty, but I’ve got a friend who’s going to be insanely jealous.” 

“You know you are a lot more approachable than the media makes you out to be,” Harrison commented softly. I raised an eyebrow at him before leaning back and crossing my legs. 

“Oh? How so?” 

“They make you out to be a god, or a goddess, of your craft, untouchable, inhuman, brilliantly smart.” 

“Hmm,” I sounded before purposefully slurping my coffee making him laugh. “That sound like a goddess to you?” 

“Now I know you’re doing that on purpose.” I grinned in response before turning slightly serious. 

“I give the media what they want to see,” I explained, half shrugging. “A doctor entirely dedicated to her work, proper, squeaky clean reputation, nothing to nitpick or criticize, makes my life easier. When I’m with friends or family, I’m a little more relaxed, that’s probably why Cisco was so surprised that night, I rarely go out in public in casual clothing.”

“Trying to blend in were you?” My lips curled into a smile. 

“It worked didn’t it? And no, Cisco recognizing me doesn’t count, he’s got an unfair advantage.” We both shared a small laugh. 

“If you don’t mind me asking, how long do you plan on staying in the States, surely you have your work to get back to…?” I pursed my lips together and started rotating my coffee cup. 

“A very close friend of mine, I suppose you could say he is kind of like a son to me, was struck by lightning the night the particle accelerator went haywire.” I explained, looking up from my coffee cup. “He’s in a coma, alive, but showing no sign of waking up, I— I feel like I shouldn’t leave until he is at least up and walking around again. That and the doctors want me around for more scans of my brain and to make sure my back is healing properly.” 

“Struck by lightening and he is still alive?” Harrison asked, his eyebrows raised as he adjusted his glasses on his nose. I nodded, my own eyebrows furrowing. 

“It’s rather strange, but I’m just glad he’s alive.” I answered looking up into his blue eyes once more. “Then again, he has always defied the odds and is a fighter, so I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised.”

“What’s his name?”

“Bartholomew Allen,” I responded before my lips twitched. “But he goes by Barry.”


	4. Incentives

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **Amaranthine:** She is eternally beautiful, unfading, everlasting, and undying, she is amaranthine. Althea Macleod is a mechanical engineer at the top of her career and in her prime as the leading scientist in the field around the world. In a last minute decision, Althea decides to head to Central City to visit an old friend, and witness the stunning invention called the particle accelerator. Little does she know that this last minute vacation will become far more permanent than expected.   
> **Warnings:** possible language  
>  **To Note:** Harry Wells x OC (it’ll take a little time to get here), A/U to fit plot lines.

**Four Months Post Accident**

“Hey, yeah, I know you can handle it, just make sure the energy dampeners are working and the magnetism cells are at full power.” I said into my phone as I leaned against the kitchen counter. “You all have PhD’s, and are fully capable of performing the tests without me, you have been for the last four months…”

“As you wish doctor, I will have the full report sent to you after we complete the tests.” Hirasaki said over the phone. “Please have a pleasant day, Dr. Macleod.” 

“I look forward to the report, thank you, Hira,” I returned before ending the call, setting my phone down on the counter, I softly groaned slight before shaking my head and running a hand through my hair. 

“Trouble in Tokyo?” Letting out a soft chuckle, I turned to the left to see Harrison roll into the kitchen in his electric chair. 

“My team still thinks that without me, they can’t do, or test, anything.” I explained dryly before walking over to the fridge and pulling out the smoothie I had made earlier this morning. I took the lid off and took a sip, testing it. It still tasted good to me. “Alright Dr., drink up since I know you will be locking yourself up in your lab for the next ten hours or so.”

He had the audacity to roll his eyes at me while I handed the smoothie to him, but he didn’t utter any complaint as he started sipping it. 

“What would I do without you?” He asked, raising an eyebrow up at him. I snorted before leaning forwards and adjusting his crooked glasses on his face so they were level. 

“Live off Big Belly Burger, take out, and Jitters.” I told him frankly, shooting him a matter of fact smile as I leaned over him. “And as delicious as those three things are, they are completely terrible for the human body.” 

Our faces were so close, it would have been easy enough for me to lean in and kiss that stupid, adorable, dimpled smile off his face. But I was on a time table, and had plans to meet with Iris and Eddie at Jitters later this morning, so I pulled away. 

“Come along, Doctor, it’s time to get you to your lab.” I said, grabbing my purse and heading for the front door. All the way to the van, I could practically feel him shooting a look at the back of my head for being a total tease, but then again, with eyes and a charming smile like that, he was hard to resist. 

Harrison’s driver drove us into the city, and to the area were we would be able to get into the sectioned off Star labs. Strolling into the labs, Harrison went to check on his lab while I headed for the Cortex where Cisco and Caitlin had been monitoring Barry ever since we had moved him here. 

“How’s my potato today?” I asked as I walked into the room and headed for the bed Barry was lying on. He still looked exactly the same since I had last seen him with the EKG leads hooked up to his chest and other wires taped to his head. 

“Still vegetating, Dr. Macleod.” Cisco responded as he rolled over on his desk chair. I crossed my arms and rubbed my chin, sighing. “Trust me, if anything, you’ll be the first person we’ll tell.” 

“No, no, I trust you’ve got everything under control, Mr. Ramon,” I told him, giving him a small smile before turning back to Barry. “Barry always said I mothered him, it’s true, and I can’t help it. I just hate this waiting game.” 

“He’s under the best care here with us,” Caitlin said, walking over with her hands stuffed into her pockets. “And the tests we’ve been running have been showing that his body is in a constant state of cellular regeneration, he’s perfectly healthy.” 

“I’d say he’s more than healthy, he just won’t wake up.” I murmured, thumping my fist softly against my forehead. 

“His family says that you’re the closest thing he has to a mother, just how old are you?” Caitlin asked, turning to me with a confused expression. 

“She isn’t that old!” Cisco exclaimed, acting insulted on my behalf. “Dr. Macleod happens to be a nice age of thirty two years!” 

I bit my lip to hold in a chuckle. Yeah, he had memorized my birthdate among other things. I was used to him pretty much knowing everything about me, well he knew almost everything, but not about my current relationship with a certain boss of his. 

“I’m eight years older than Barry,” I explained to Caitlin. “After Nora was killed, he got a little lost, and I was around, he got attached and I suppose I filled the position as his mother until he got old enough to not need me around. He didn’t mind spending time with me while I was working on my theses and starter projects.” 

“No doubt you inspired him, Dr. Macleod,” Harrison said as he rolled into the Cortex. “How’s our patient today, Dr. Snow?” 

“The same as he was yesterday, all readings nominal of initial data, no changes to report, Dr Wells.” Caitlin replied, looking down at the pad in her hands. 

“Considering that he is still a healthy, albeit vegetative potato, I should probably get going.” I announced, adjusting my purse strap. “I’ll be back later,”

Walking over to where Harrison sat, I peered into his smoothie cup, it was half empty. He looked up at me like he expected a reward for drinking half of it. I gave him a look before bending down and planting a kiss on his cheek. 

“Finish it all and you get one on the lips.” I told him quietly before drawing away from him with a half smirk. 

“Has anyone ever told you that you play dirty Dr. Macleod?” He called as I headed for the exit. I laughed at his words and shook my head. 

“Think of it more of an incentive than fighting dirty, Dr. Wells!” I called back before exiting the cortex. A short walk later, I was swiftly walking down the street, only a few buildings down from Jitters. Just outside of the coffee shop, I saw Iris and Eddie. 

“Thea!” Iris greeted with a bright smile as she waved me down. I quickly trotted over to the two with a smile. “How’s our potato today?” 

“Still vegetating,” I responded while Eddie snorted softly and shook his head. 

“Still referring to Allen as a vegetable, Dr. Macleod?” I shrugged at him as the three of us entered Jitters. 

“What can I say, that’s essentially what he is at the moment.” I said as we got into line to order our drinks. 

“So no change?” Eddie asked as the line moved up. 

“No, but no change is good.” I sighed in response, rubbing my face. “He’s stable, just like he has been for the last four months, we just need to wait for him to be ready to wake up.” 

“Doesn’t mean we have to like it.” Iris grumbled, shaking her head. “I mean Barry’s family, practically my brother.” 

“And Bartholomew has always pulled through, Iris.” I told her as it was our turn to order our drinks. I turned to the barista on duty. “Medium non fat chai, extra hot please.”

“Alright then, we’ve established that Allen is a very healthy potato, and rather than agonize over his unchanging state, why don’t you ladies spent this half an hour actually enjoying yourselves?” 

“I hate to say it,” I said, paying the barista and giving them a smile and a thanks. “But detective Pretty Boy is right. I really don’t think Barry would want us moping around.” 

Eddie scowled at me while Iris let out a laugh. She and Eddie ordered their drinks and the three of us headed to a table to sit down before the woman rounded on me. 

“Alright then, Thea, we can talk about your love life instead.” Iris stated, settling her arms on the table and leaning forwards. “Because if I’m not mistaken, you’ve gotten quite close to a certain doctor these last few months.” 

“Since when do you care about who I’m dating?” I huffed, leaning back against the booth and crossing my arms. 

“Since I because almost one hundred percent certain that you’re dating someone,” Iris threw back with a knowing smile. “Come on, admit it.” 

“Fine, fine,” I admitted as the barista came over with our drinks. “So I am dating, I’m allowed to you know. No one says doctors can’t date.” 

“So you are dating him!” Iris said triumphantly while I gabbed my chai and pulled it close to me. 

“So what if I’m dating him,” I grumbled to myself as Eddie started chuckling. “No one said I couldn’t date him.” 

“You do realize who you’re dating, right?” He asked, raising his eyebrows. 

“And you do realize who I am?” I countered in challenge. “Nothing new is going to come from this, I mean we both get a pretty big spot light in the science world already, we know how to handle it.”

“So then, what’s it like?” Iris asked slowly, switching the topic. “Dating him I mean?”

“Sometimes, I honestly wonder how he even lasted this long,” I sighed, albeit a little more dramatically than I needed to, but honestly, I really was wondering how he lasted this long. “I mean I know that I sometimes forget to eat when I’m in my lab, but him? I swear he’ll forget to eat for three days straight if no one checks on him, and no, coffee does not count as sustenance.” 

“Sounds like you two are meant for each other.” Iris commented dryly, shooting me a sly look to which I just rolled my eyes at her. 

“Don’t start making comments about how it was meant to be, Iris, I already get enough of it from Cisco as it is. He won’t stop yammering on and on about how his ship has sailed.” 

“Ship? What does that mean?” Eddie asked in confusion while Iris dissolved into a fit of giggles. She patted his arm and shook her head. 

“It means that Cisco desperately wanted the doctors to date each other.” The rest of the half hour we had blocked out of our day we talked about our jobs, and tried to steer clear of the worry that filled Iris and I’s mind. 

Eventually we went out separate ways, and I ended up running around the city, doing a few errands I had on my to do list. By the time I had nearly half of the items done on my list, it was lunch time. 

With my laptop bag, which I had retrieved from the apartment I now rented in the city, slung over my shoulder and loaded down with my laptop and papers, I stopped on the corner of the street I was on and looked around.

My eyes landed on a certain fast food joint, and I couldn’t help but sigh, a burger did sound quite delicious at the moment, and I did promise a little something if a certain someone finished his smoothie. 

Ten minutes later I was climbing into a cab with a Big Belly Burger take out bag in hand, and on my way to Star labs. The smell of fresh out of the fryer fries had me trying my hardest not to drool as the taxi zipped across the city.


	5. Skip the Entrée, Go for the Dessert

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **Amaranthine:** She is eternally beautiful, unfading, everlasting, and undying, she is amaranthine. Althea Macleod is a mechanical engineer at the top of her career and in her prime as the leading scientist in the field around the world. In a last minute decision, Althea decides to head to Central City to visit an old friend, and witness the stunning invention called the particle accelerator. Little does she know that this last minute vacation will become far more permanent than expected.  
>  **Warnings:** possible language  
>  **To Note:** Harry Wells x OC (it’ll take a little time to get here), A/U to fit plot lines.

Walking through the small entrance into the sectioned off building, I trotted up the stairs, holding the Big Belly Burger bag close to me since I knew that there was a certain scientist who was like a blood hound when it came to Big Belly Burger. 

Slinking through the silent and half lit halls of the Star’s building, I slunk into Harrison’s lab to see him sitting in front of one of the clear white boards, drumming his fingers on his chair. 

“Lost in thought, Dr. Wells?” I questioned softly, holding the Big Belly Burger bag behind me and out of sight. He turned his head to look at me over his shoulder before moving his chair around and rolling over towards the table where his own bags, and several coffee cups, lay. 

“Althea, I thought you were meeting with your friends today?” He asked as he set the marker in his hands down. Keeping my hands behind my back, I slowly loitered on over to him. 

“Well, I did, met with Iris and Eddie at Jitters, and spent some time talking with them.” I answered in earnest before adding. “Though Iris seemed more interested in learning about my love life than talking about other things in general.” 

“Dr. Althea Macleod’s love life… she wouldn’t happen to have been gossiping about a certain boyfriend you have, did she?” I let out a chuckle.

“She most certainly did, Dr. Wells,” I responded before looking around for the continued I had packed his smoothie in this morning. “Did you finish your breakfast?” 

“As a matter of fact,” He said before reaching for said container and dangling it between his fingers. “I did, do I get my reward now?”

Laughing slightly, I brought the Big Belly Burger bag out from behind my back and showed him. 

“I’ve got something even better, how does Big Belly Burger sound for lunch?” He chuckled and adjusted his glasses. 

“It sounds amazing, Althea, but I was looking forwards to my original reward.” Harrison said as I walked over to the table and started pulling out the wrapped burgers and fries. I snuck a side glance at him and saw that he was giving me a look. I returned it with a look off innocence before grabbing a fry and popping it into my mouth.

“What? I got hungry.” I defended myself as I reached for another fry. For a man now wheelchair bound, he could sure move fast. One moment I was standing on my own two feet, preparing to shove more fries into my mouth, and the next I was toppling sideways into his lap. “Harrison Wells!” 

My protest didn’t last long, since he took this chance to grab my chin and claim what I had originally promised. I never understood why, I was a scientist not an overly emotional person, but Harrison Wells kisses always made my mind go blank. That was feat unto itself, not just anyone could render me thoughtless. 

He stroked the side of my face while settling his other hand on my thigh, my legs hanging over the side of the armrest of the electric chair. There were no sparks, no fireworks, or tingles, it was just him and I, like it had been the last two months we had been dating. The fries in my fingers, which my nose hadn’t forgotten, brought me back to reality.

“I know you aren’t keeping me from my fries, Dr. Wells,” I warned him, pulling away to give him a narrowed look. He just laughed at me before moving the both of us closer to the table so we could grab the food I had set out. 

“Just getting my reward, Dr. Macleod,” He responded with a cheeky, dimpled smirk. I huffed at him, poking his cheek with my free hand before stuffing my mouth with the fries I still held. While I was munching the fries like a woodchuck, I gave him a narrowed look as I went to get up. He had other ideas, choosing to wrap and arm around my waist, and hold me in his lap. 

“Harrison…” I warned him. 

“Indulge me,” He challenged back, I scrutinized him before sighing in defeat and reaching for my fries. 

“You’re lucky I love you,” I huffed at him before settling myself in his lap and diving into my fries. He chuckled at my childish pout before grabbing his own fries. Crossing my ankles, I peered into my box of fries and picked out the crispiest ones, choosing to eat those first.

“So how has your day been?” He asked as I started to work on my burger with bacon, avocado, lettuce, cheese, and the BBB special sauce.

“Busy,” I answered as I peeled the wrapped back more so I wouldn’t bite into it. “Got my list of things to do about half done. Still have to go furniture shopping since my apartment is still looking pretty sparse, and I’m waiting on a few shipments from my lab, my crew finished a few prototypes for me and its time for testing.” 

“And you say I work too much,” Harrison mused, my eyes shifted from my fries to his blue eyes before narrowing. 

“Well, excuse me Mr ‘I forgot to eat Althea, but I promise to eat something as soon as I’m done figuring out this equation.’, need I remind you that you still forgot to eat?” I snorted at him. “At least I remember to eat.” 

“What would I do without you?” He sighed while chuckling a little. I raised an eyebrow at him, my lips curving into a half smile. 

“I’d say you’d starve yourself, but considering the fact that you’ve somehow managed to keep yourself alive all these years, I will simply say you’ll manage.” I told him before taking another bite of my delicious burger. I don’t know why, but beef, bacon, and avocado really appealed to me. 

“Hey, did someone bring in Big Belly Burger?” I heard Cisco’s voice ring out before he materialized in the room. “Because I am smelling—“

He stopped short as soon as his eyes settled on Harrison and I. It looked entirely incriminating, me sitting across his lap, halfway to taking another bite of my burger, along with the empty fry containers and the Big Belly Burger bags. 

“You didn’t!” Cisco gasped out dramatically before whining. “You got Big Belly Burger without me, you could have at least got me some fries or something!”

“You’re my minion, not my boyfriend,” I spoke up before finishing my bite. “Boyfriend gets special privileges, minions do not.” 

Cisco let out an even more dramatic gasp, taking a staggering step back, pressing a hand to his chest. 

“I’m your minion?” He questioned dramatically, as if the very words touched his heart. “I’m Althea Macleod’s minion? I’m Althea Macleod’s minion! Hah! Take that Caitlin!” 

As soon as he had appeared, Cisco disappeared, no doubt running off to tell Caitlin the news that he was officially my minion. 

“Minion huh?” Harrison asked, I looked at him and saw he had a teasing smile on his face and an eyebrow raised. 

“What?” I asked, giving him an innocent look while I shrugged my shoulders. “I’ve always wanted one, and he’s quite willing, not to mention has the brains to be one. Why not?” 

“Are you seducing my assistant away from me Dr. Macleod?” I tapped a finger nail against my chin, fake pondering his words. 

“Mmm, seducing your assistant…” I mused to myself before smirking and leaning forwards, running fingers along the collar of his shirt. I trailed my fingers up his neck before hooking one around his glasses and tugging them free so I could look at them. “The assistant? I think not, I’ve got my eyes on the doctor himself.” 

Folding his glasses up in one hand, I tossed the empty wrapper my burger had been resting in onto the table and proceeded to wrap my arms around his neck. 

“Why bother with the appetizer when I can skip the entrée and go for my dessert?” I purred with a playful smirk. Unfortunately, any fun I might want to partake in, had to wait. My playful smirk morphed into a sad smile. “But as much as I’d like to have my dessert early, I need to go dining table shopping since I’ve been eating on my lone couch for the last three months.” 

“Now that’s just cruel, Dr. Macleod,” He groaned softly, shaking his head. I smiled at him, giggling slightly before patting his cheek. “You are killing me.” 

“What can I say, you bring the femme fatale in me.” I told him in response as I tucked his glasses into his blazer chest pocket so they were hanging and easily accessible. Leaning forwards, I pressed a kiss to the corner of his mouth. “I’ll talk to you later, I’ve got a table to buy.” 

With that, I extrapolated myself from his grasp and hopped to my feet, gathering up the remained of our meal. 

“Need I remind you to make sure that you at least go home at a reasonable time?” I asked as I stuffed the wrappers and fry containers into the Big Belly Burger bag. “And to also make sure that you eat something for dinner?” 

“Promise,” Harrison answered with a curved smile. Satisfied with that answered, I shouldered my bag across my body before double checking that I had everything. “Careful travels, Althea.” 

Looking over my shoulder at him, I flashed him a bright smile. 

“I’m always careful.” I answered before gliding out of the room.


	6. You Are Lucky I Love Your

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **Amaranthine:** She is eternally beautiful, unfading, everlasting, and undying, she is amaranthine. Althea Macleod is a mechanical engineer at the top of her career and in her prime as the leading scientist in the field around the world. In a last minute decision, Althea decides to head to Central City to visit an old friend, and witness the stunning invention called the particle accelerator. Little does she know that this last minute vacation will become far more permanent than expected.   
> **Warnings:** Almost mature themes but 18+ anyways (wrap it up ppl, unprotected sex is a no no), possible language  
>  **To Note:** Harry Wells x OC (it’ll take a little time to get here), A/U to fit plot lines.

**Seven Months Post Accident**

“You know, my parents used to rave about this restaurant, apparently has the best Bolognese’s stuffed calamari they ever ate.” I said as I looked around the low lit Italian restaurant. “But somehow in my thirty two years of living, I’ve never actually eaten here.” 

“Then I suppose it’s a good thing I dragged you here.” Harrison replied from across the table with his usual charming, dimpled smile. I rolled my eyes. 

I would have been perfectly happy with a Big Belly Burger date, eaten at home before snuggling on the couch and watching a couple of episodes of a show on Netflix. But at the slight mention of never have been to this restaurant, or the fact that I would have been happy with Big Belly Burger, Harrison had snorted, and promptly made a reservation for us to have dinner date. 

So that’s how I ended up dressing in a black, body hugging spaghetti strap dress that went down to my knees. Along with the skin tight dress, I had done my hair in slight waves, pinning it back from my face before doing natural makeup but with a red lipstick twist. Completing the look was simple black heels and a string of pearls hanging around my neck. 

So much for a sweatpants and a baggy shirt burger date in front of the television, but I digress, so far, I was highly impressed with the wine and bread selection. Bread, I had been impressed with the bread. Did that make me a simpleton? I didn’t particularly care, it was hot, fresh, and divine.

“So then, what dish do I get here?” I asked, lifting my eyes from the menu with an overwhelmingly amount of delicious sounding dishes. “Because everything looks good to me.” 

“You like veal?” I cocked my head to the side, my brain running through the times I have had veal in the past. I did like it. 

“Yes, I believe I do.” I answered.

“The veal scaloppine with lemon and butter is really good.” He offered with a smile. I briefly cocked my head to the side. 

“Veal scaloppine it is,” I said before closed my menu and setting it down on the table. Dinner came and went slowly, both of us trying to avoid the topic of a certain Allen who was still in a coma back at the lab. It was actually quite relaxing and nice to just have a moment to ourselves, even if I was in a dress that made me somewhat self conscious. 

“So then, where exactly have you been hiding your hoverboard were Mr. Ramon can’t find it?” Harrison asked as I moved the last bit of my desert, tiramisu, around the bowl it had been brought over in. I let out a soft chuckle and shook my head. 

“The one place he’ll never look,” I answered, my smile turning into a grin. “And no, I won’t tell you.”

“What?” He asked raising his eyebrow and giving me a look. “You think I’m going to go and take it for a joyride?” 

I pressed my lips together as a snort of laugher barely escaped my pressed lips.

“That’ll be a sight,” I chortled before shaking my head and pointing my finger at him. “No one, and I mean no one, gets to take it for a ride until I’m done with the safety checks, so that also means no one finds out where I am storing it.” 

Setting my spoon down at the edge of the bowl, I reached for my wine glass and took another sip of the fragrant, light bodied liquid. 

“I swear, never have I had to actually hide my projects from those that work the lab.” I grumbled to myself. 

“Well you do now work with Mr. Ramon, and he is your minion…” I eyed him over my wine glass. 

“Are you trying to tell me that it’s my fault?” He held up his hands in surrender, a cheeky smile on his lips. 

“You’re the one that made him your minion, Thee,” Harrison replied matter of factly. I rolled my eyes, yeah, I suppose it was my fault for turning Cisco into my minion, but come on, what scientists wouldn’t want a minion?

“Fine, fine,” I admitted. “I made him my minion, yes, I’ll own up to that, but it’s not my fault Cisco has gotten an extreme interest in my zero friction electromagnetic propulsion and suspension projects.” 

“Well according to him, hover cars are cool and awesome, and he should get first dibs as a test driver.” 

“He needs to remember that’s not how things work,” I grumbled before downing the rest of my wine. “Because I will not be having my minion testing an untested hoverboard.” 

*****

It was late, after ten at night, and I was standing at the side of Harrison’s large bed, pulling his last sock off for him. While yes, he couldn’t walk anymore, he wasn’t fully paralyzed, he still had some feeling, it was just more towards his torso. He could get around his house and change outfits pretty well, but things went a lot faster when I was around to help him. 

Tossing the sock into the laundry basket, I turned to his dresser to grab a sleep shirt while he wiggled himself out of his dress pants. 

“Hmm, grey or blue?” I asked, looking between the two shirts. Both felt complete incredible underneath my fingers, and equally soft. 

“Who says I need one?” My body stilled as I looked up, my eyebrow shooting up. Slowly, I turned on my bare foot, having ditched my heels long ago, to stare at him. He sat against his pillows with a smirk, and devoid of most of his clothes. 

“You want to go to sleep sans shirt, and potentially get cold?” I challenged back, removing my hands from the drawer and leaning against the dresser, crossing my arms. 

“You could always stay the night and keep me nice and warm.” I rolled my eyes at him, uncrossing my arms before walking over to the side of the bed. 

“Harrison…” I dragged out, giving him a look. 

“What? It’s not like you haven’t before.” He answered before reaching forwards and wrapping his arms around my waist. In one sharp tug, I found myself teetering forwards, falling partially across his body. “Have I told you how incredible you look in that dress tonight? Or how much that red lipstick compliments your eyes?” 

“You might have mentioned it,” I said as I felt his hand trail up my side and onto the portion of my back that wasn’t covered by the dress, which consequently was the part with the most scarring. “But I’m glad you like it, because this isn’t something I’d usually wear.”

“You wore it just for me?” I cocked my head to the side, a small smile on my lips. 

“What can I say? Sometimes I work up the courage to actually show you what you currently have, and to make sure that everyone knows you are taken.” I said, my lips twitching as I trailed my fingers up his bare chest. My finger slowly traced his pectoralis major.

For a scientist, he was sure sculpted like a greek god, every muscle carved to perfection, on perfect display. He was built like a prime athlete for a man who spent the majority of his time in a lab, and for a man at the age of forty. 

“Though I do wonder,” I continued, my eyes slowly drifting up from his taut muscles to look into his blue eyes. “How does a scientist manage to stay in this good of a shape? I’m quite jealous.”

“Hmm,” He sounded, his lips still curved into that delicious smirk of his. “Maybe I’ll tell you my secret one day.” 

The fingers that had been lazily dancing across the skin of my back slid up to cup the back of my head. In one delicate pull, he pulled my lips down to his. His mouth felt hot on mine, caressing my lips with a gentle yet burning desire. 

Shifting from where I was perched, my knees and shins hit the soft sheets so I was straddling him. My hands pressed down against his chest, lightly resting on the said muscles I had only moments ago been admiring. 

In one quick tug the black dress I had squeezed myself into tonight loosened, the straps going slack around my shoulders and the top getting dangerously loose. At this moment in time, my brain wasn’t particularly caring that my dress had gotten loose, or that the straps were slowly sliding down my arms. 

From there, I managed to wiggle out of the loose, but still fairly skin tight dress. With a quick flick of my left foot, my dress landed on the floor of the bedroom, leaving me straddling Harrison in only my delicate lace underwear. Pulling away from our current lip lock, I gave him a narrowed look as I felt his fingers tugging on the hem of my underwear. 

“Don’t you dare, Harrison Wells,” I warned him, poking him in the chest with my right pointer finger. “These are my favorite pair!”

“I’ll buy you a hundred more,” He threw back, cheekily smirking at me. “Right now they’re in my way.” 

With one sharp tug, the delicate lace material tore at the side and he was throwing it to the floor. My jaw went slack as I stared at the ruined scrap of my underwear. Slowly, I turned my head to look at him with narrowed eyes. 

“You are so lucky I love you,” I growled out before grabbing his face and yanking his lips back to mine. His hands settled on my hips, fingers brushing lightly up my sides and drawing swirling patterns. One of his hands caressed my back, lightly running over the lumps and ridges before it drifted around my side as it trailed across my skin, painfully slow on its journey. Breaking from the kiss, my head leaned back slightly as I let out a soft groan. “Harrison…”

“You’ve had your dessert, Althea,” He purred, pulling me so close I was pretty much pressed flush against him. His lips brushed against my jaw. “I want mine.” 

“Well if you insist.” I sighed before digging my fingers into his neat hair, this was going to be a long night, and I wasn’t going to regret any second of it.


	7. Lightning Gave Me Abs?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **Amaranthine:** She is eternally beautiful, unfading, everlasting, and undying, she is amaranthine. Althea Macleod is a mechanical engineer at the top of her career and in her prime as the leading scientist in the field around the world. In a last minute decision, Althea decides to head to Central City to visit an old friend, and witness the stunning invention called the particle accelerator. Little does she know that this last minute vacation will become far more permanent than expected.   
> **Warnings:** Mature themes 18+, possible language  
>  **To Note:** Harry Wells x OC (it’ll take a little time to get here), A/U to fit plot lines.

“You’re lucky that my meeting tomorrow morning was moved to next week.” I grumbled from where I was sprawled out, half of my body on him so the comforting warmth soaked into my body. 

“Pretty sure it’s after twelve so don’t you mean this morning?” Harrison retuned, shifting his arms, which were draped across my back, slightly. I huffed at him and rolled my eyes before closing them, and relishing the warm body beneath mine. 

“Semantics, Dr. Wells,” I murmured. “Semantics, I’m too tired to argue with you on that one so I’ll give you that.” 

He chuckled beneath me, and a few seconds later I felt a hand gently run through my wild mane. That only started to lull my tried body and mind further into the throws of sleep. Letting out a sigh of content, I slowly peeled my eyes open. 

“Do you think he’ll ever wake up?” I whispered, the thought had been eating away at my brain. After seven months of Barry still locked in his coma, even if he was still the picture of health, it still worried me a great deal. 

“You said it yourself, Thee,” Harrison said gently, his fingers brushing over the scar on my forehead and tracing it into my hairline. “He’ll wake up when he is ready. For now all we can do is monitor him and wait.”

“I know I did, but lately I’ve been second guessing my own words,” I responded quietly. “I hate not being able to do anything to help him.” 

“I have a feeling Mr. Allen would want you taking care of yourself, not worrying yourself sick over something you can’t control.” He said gently, continuing to stroke my hair. I let out a small, defeated sigh before closing my eyes snuggling into his side. Barry was going to be fine. Barry was going to be fine. Barry was going to be fine. 

He had to be. 

*****

Letting out a soft groan, I rolled over, turning away from the bright sun and burying my face into the pillow underneath my head. Wait a minute… snapping my eyes open, my slate blue eyes stared at the empty spot next to me. 

“For heavens sake Harrison,” I grumbled to myself before pulling my reluctant body from the bed. Since a certain, ahem, said man, had ripped my underwear last night, he better hope I still had a few sets of my own clothes tucked away. Mainly a pair of not shredded underwear. 

Padding over to the dresser, I crouched down to the bottom drawer and pulled it open. Yes! Grabbing the plain cotton underwear, I forwent grabbing the bra in favor of just wearing the underwear and throwing on one of Harrison’s t-shirts. 

Standing up, I quickly pulled the underwear on before grabbing the grey t-shirt I had been eyeing last night. Pulling it over my head, I started running my fingers through my hair as I headed for the one place I was guaranteed to find my boyfriend. 

Quietly making my way through the sun lit house, I passed the elevator that had been put in favor of taking the stairs. As I stepped down the stairs, my fingers caught a few knots in my hair, yanking at my scalp a little and causing me to wince. My fingers carefully worked the knot out as my feet hit the ground floor and continued to my destination. 

Coming to a stop just right outside of Harrison’s office, I put my hand on the door and pushed it slightly open. Just as I had figured, Harrison was inside, working, or more like in deep thought. He was tapping the frame of his glasses against his chin, thinking about whatever was on the computer in front of him.

“You know I don’t like waking up to an empty bed,” I announced vaguely, somewhat insinuating that I wasn’t happy that he had gotten up and dived into work. He glanced up from the laptop perched on the desk, his blue eyes scanning my body from where it leaned against the door frame. I raised an eyebrow at him as he tapped his glasses on his lips, curving them into a half smile. 

“And no, you don’t get brownie points for saying that I look good in your shirt.” I added, pushing away from the doorframe to approach him. Walking up to him, I reached for his hair and combed my fingers through the wild strands. “The least you could have done since you took the time and energy to drag yourself out of bed was brush your hair.” 

He chuckled at me before sliding his glasses back onto his face and reaching for me. I let him drag me into his lap, and wrapped my arms around his neck. 

“Are you getting enough sleep?” I asked him, genuine concern in my eyes as I frowned slightly at him. I ran my hand up his neck to brush my fingers over his cheek bones, he didn’t have dark circles yet, but he might soon enough.

“I am,” Harrison replied as he settled his hand on my outer thigh and stroked the skin. “I just had a thought earlier this morning, and as much as I hate to leave you alone in bed, I needed to get it down.” 

Letting out a small huff, I tapped my fingers on his cheek before withdrawing my hand with a wry smile. 

“Fine, never could stay mad at you anyways.” I sighed dramatically, leaning my head back in an emphasis of drama. 

“Now that that has been settled, care to join me for breakfast?” I lifted my head, one of my eyebrows lifting as well. 

“Who are you and what have you done with Harrison Wells?” I questioned playfully, poking him in the chest. “Because there is no way my boyfriend would instigate, or willingly, eat breakfast.” 

He grinned at me with a cheeky, dimpled smile before turning his electrical chair and heading towards the open door. Laughing at getting a free ride to the kitchen, I rewrapped both of my arms around his neck and enjoyed the ride. 

**Nine Months Post Accident**

I was balancing on my hoverboard while Cisco pouted and huffed underneath his breath. He wasn’t happy that I wouldn’t allow him to test out the hoverboard for me. Hence why I was flying around in circles in the Cortex, balancing on the skateboard reminiscent object. It was actually a fairly hard thing to do, but after months spent balancing on a balance board, and doing other exercises to work on my balance, I had gotten quite good at balancing on the hover board. 

Now I was just working on the actual maneuvering of the device. 

Essentially, it was weight distribution based. Lean forwards to go forwards, backwards to slow down or reverse. Side to side to turn, practically a skateboard itself, if skateboards could hover, cost hundreds of thousands of dollars, and had several million dollars of investments in research. Shifting my weight, I leaned forwards slightly, balancing my weight as I sailed around in a circle.

“Caitlin,” I greeted as she strode into the room with her pad in hands. “May I ask how my potato is today?”

“He can hear everything, though, right?” Cisco asked, cutting in before Caitlin has a chance to respond. Caitlin spared a glance at Cisco before responding.

“Auditory functions are the last sensory faculties to degenerate when a person enters a persistent vegetative state.” She responded as a matter of fact before leaning over Barry and checking on the electrodes stuck to his skin, an act she did every morning.

“Vegetative as in potato.” I said as I made one more round of the Cortex before moving my left heel and pressing it down on the button that controlled the downward motion of the board. I floated back to the floor, and when I was half a foot from the ground, I hopped off. Bending down, I grabbed the hoverboard and quickly turned it off before tucking it underneath my arm. “So, how is my potato?”

Caitlin leaned over Barry, shining her pen light in his face, like she had done thousands of times before, before checking the monitors near the bedside. 

“Your potato is still baking.” She finally announced as I walked over. I let out a sigh before drumming my fingernails on the side of the hoverboard. “I’m sorry I don’t have any news.”

“No news is good news I suppose,” I answered, giving her a half hearted shrug. It was then Barry shot straight up on the bed with a gasp. Cisco let out a girlish shriek while Caitlin, who had been on her way to her station jerked to a stop and spun around. 

“Barry!?” I exclaimed before rushing over to his side and planting a hand on his shoulder. “Oh my God you’re actually up!” 

“Where am I?” He asked, looking up at me. “Thea, where am I?”

“Calm down,” I told him, pushing back against the pillows as Caitlin rushed over, pen light in hand once more. “Just breath and relax.”

Caitlin started shining the light into Barry’s eyes, checking his pupil reaction. I kept my hand on Barry’s should to keep him down as he started yanking at the electrodes on his body.

“Cisco, Dr. Wells,” I called over my shoulder before looking up to the monitors on the wall. Everything looked fine, at least as far as I could tell, Caitlin could only teach me so much in our free time.

“Dr. Wells, get down to the cortex, like, right now.” I heard Cisco say as Caitlin started rattling off a bunch of his health parameters.

“Pulse 120, pupils equally reactive to light.” She muttered before Barry pushed my hands away and sat up on the hospital bed he had taken up since he had been moved to the lab. 

“Wait, Barry!” I exclaimed as he got to his feet and swayed. I grabbed his arm and steadied him on his feet. “Bartholomew Allen! Look at me!” 

My mother voice seemed to snap some sense in him, because stopped trying to move and blinked and looked at me. 

“You’re okay,” I told him in a more gentle voice. “But we need you to take it easy, okay?” 

Barry nodded at me as Cisco trotted up us.

“To answer your previous question, you're at Star Labs.” Cisco explained.

“Star labs?” Barry repeated before looking at me in confusion. I nodded in confirmation. “Who are you?”

“I’m Cisco Ramon,” Cisco said before gesturing to Caitlin. “That’s Caitlin, Dr. Snow.” Caitlin thrust a sample cup in Barry’s face.

“I need you to urinate in this.” Cisco snatched the cup from Caitlin’s hands, scowling at her.

“Not this second.”

“What is— what is happening? What is going on?” Barry asked as he stepped away from us. 

“You were struck by lightning, dude.”

“What?” Barry asked, his eyebrows pinching together as he turned on his heel and looked at the mirror int he Cortex. “Lightning gave me abs?”

“Yeah, we don’t have an answer for that, or anything quite yet, Barry.” I explained, crossing my arms.

“Your muscles should be atrophied, but instead they're in a chronic and unexplained state of cellular regeneration.” Caitlin said as she started to poke and prod Barry. Cisco shot him a look before pulling him over to a chair.

“Come here. Have a seat.” He said, making Barry sit down. “You were in a coma.”

Barry’s eyes went wide and turned to me, clear questions and worry filling said eyes. I shifted on my feet, knowing I was not going to want to answer the question he was going to answer me in a few seconds. 

“For how long?” 

“Nine months.” Harrison’s voice ringing out in the Cortex saved me from answering that question. All four of us turned to see him rolling into the Cortex. Harrison’s eyes briefly landed on mine before going back to Barry. “Welcome back, Mr. Allen. We have a lot to discuss.”


	8. He'll Be Back

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **Amaranthine:** She is eternally beautiful, unfading, everlasting, and undying, she is amaranthine. Althea Macleod is a mechanical engineer at the top of her career and in her prime as the leading scientist in the field around the world. In a last minute decision, Althea decides to head to Central City to visit an old friend, and witness the stunning invention called the particle accelerator. Little does she know that this last minute vacation will become far more permanent than expected.   
> **Warnings:** possible language  
>  **To Note:** Harry Wells x OC (it’ll take a little time to get here), A/U to fit plot lines.

I stood with Cisco as Barry got changed into the clothes we had provided him so he didn’t have to run around in his underwear. 

“So… you gonna tell him boss?” Cisco asked, looking up at me. I raised my eyebrow and turned my head to stare Cisco down. He immediately shrunk in his spot slightly. “I’ll take that as a no… and as a ‘tell him and I will destroy you’.”

“He just woke up after nine months of being in a coma,” I said softly, rubbing the side of my face. “He is already confused an emotionally traumatized enough, I don’t want to make thing worse.”

“By what? Telling him that you’re dating his idol?” Cisco snorted, crossing his own arms. “He seems kind of smart, won’t he figure it out eventually?” 

“Not as smart when it comes to certain things. I’ll tell him when he’s had a chance to adapt, and find out that the girl he’s loved for years is dating someone else.” I replied before uncrossing my arms and approaching Barry who was pulling on a Star labs sweatshirt. “Hey there,”

Barry turned around and smiled at me before frowning slightly. 

“Thea, you okay?” He asked as he stepped forwards, looking down at me in concern. I shrugged at him nonchalantly. 

“Oh you know, I’ve just spent the last nine months wondering when the hell you were going to wake up.” I muttered, my eyes darting away as I huffed a little. 

“Geeze, Al,” Barry breathed before stepping forwards and wrapping his arms around my body. “I am so sorry.” 

I thunked my head against his chest and let out a deep sigh. 

“Why, oh why, do you have to practically be a son to me Allen? I swear you like making me worry.” I grumbled into his chest. Barry tucked my head underneath his chin before giving me a tight hug. 

“I’ll make it up to you by bringing you Big Belly Burger any time you want, promise.” Barry said, I let out a strained chuckle. 

“I’ll get fat if you do that, Barry.” I said, pulling away before looking up into his face. “I’m just glad to see you on your feet.”

“Got it,” He replied with his usual smile. My smile faded slightly before I sighed and ran a hand through my hair. 

“Come on, Dr. Wells wasn’t lying, you do have a lot to discuss.” I told him as I lightly set my hand on his shoulder. “I’m sure you have a lot of questions.” 

“Yeah, I do,” Barry said as he stood up. “Like how did I end up in the care of Dr. Wells team, or why you are still in the States, Thea, your work and life is in Tokyo, why are you still here?”

“We… can talk about that later,” I answered, placing a hand on his back and directing Barry towards the exit. “Let’s not keep the doctor waiting, yes?”

Harrison was waiting for Barry just outside the Cortex, tapping on his small screen mounted on his electric chair. Upon hearing our footsteps, he looked up and adjusted his glasses. 

“I’ll leave the two of you to it,” I said, giving Barry a small smile before pulling away, intending to head back to the Cortex and fiddle with the forward stabilizers of the hover board. 

“Wait,” Barry said, snagging my wrist. I looked at him with a raised eyebrow before glancing at Harrison, who had his own eyebrow raised. “Can you stay? Please?”

He then leaned close.

“I’d rather not make a fool of myself alone.” I rolled my eyes at him before eyeing Harrison who had an amused expression on his face. Shooting him a look, I patted Barry’s arm. 

“Alright then,” I said quietly before gesturing towards the outer walkway. “Shall we?” 

“We shall, Dr. Macleod,” Harrison said before rolling in the indicated direction. Barry immediately started trotting after him, tugging me along by the wrist. 

“It's hard to believe I'm here.” Barry said, starting his verbal barf. “I have always wanted to meet you face to face.” 

“Yeah?” Harrison asked, his eyebrow shooting up momentarily. “Well, you certainly went to great lengths to do it. Star Labs has not been operational since fema categorized us as a class four hazardous location. 17 people died that night. Many more were injured. Myself and Dr. Macleod amongst them.”

“Jeez.” Barry muttered before his head shot my way. “Wait, you got injured Thea? What happened?”

“Nine months ago, the particle accelerator went online exactly as planned. For 45 minutes, I had achieved my life's dream.” Harrison explained as we came to a stop above where the exposed part of the particle accelerator had ruptured, consequently the place were Harrison and I had fallen so many months ago. “And then— then there was an anomaly. The electron volts became unmeasurable, the ring under us popped. Energy from that detonation was thrown into the sky And that, in turn, seeded a storm cloud—“

“That created a lightning bolt that struck me.” Barry finished.

“That's right.” Harrison confirmed as Barry gripped the railing and looked over the side. 

“Okay, but why is Thea still here?” Barry asked, turning away from the ruined floor to look at me. “She was only supposed to be here for two weeks…”

“Things… don’t always happen the way we plan them, Barry,” I spoke up, resting my forearms on the railings and staring out down at the ruined equipment below. “I took a knock to the head after attempting a manual shut down with Dr. Wells, that had me in a hospital for a week, and then under observation for the next several weeks. I guess you could say I live in Central City now, remotely working with my team back in Tokyo.”

“But you’re okay now, right?” Barry pressed, his eyes once again filled with worry. I gave him a square look before nodding. 

“I just have some scarring, no lasting damage,” I told him with a small smile. “I got off easy unlike Dr. Wells…”

“Head wounds are no laughing matter, Dr. Macleod, we are lucky you weren’t hurt further,” Harrison said sternly, giving me a pointed look before turning back to Barry. “I was recovering myself... when I heard about you. The hospital was undergoing unexplainable power outages every time you were going into cardiac arrest, which was actually a misdiagnosis because you see, you weren't flatlining, Barry. Your heartbeat was moving too fast for the ekg to register it.”

We started moving back to the Cortex. As we walked, I started to wring my fingers together, there was still so much we didn’t know about how the lightning bolt had affected Barry’s body. Sure, he was up, walking around, and seemed to have full cognitive function, but at this point, we didn’t know the lasting damage. 

“Now, I'm not the most popular person in town these days, but detective West and his daughter gave me permission to bring you here, where we were able to stabilize you.” Harrison finished. 

“Iris?” Barry asked, perking up almost instantly.

“Iris, yes. She came to see you quite often.” Harrison responded as Caitlin came over his his thermos full of coffee, she handed it off to him.

“She talks a lot.” Caitlin commented.

“Also, she's hot.” Cisco added before earning looks from Caitlin and I. 

“I need to go.” Barry breathed out before moving towards the exit.

“No, you can’t.” Caitlin exclaimed while I nodded my head. 

“Barry, you just got up, you need to rest. We don’t know what is going on with your body.” I told him while Harrison spun his electrical chair around. 

“No, no. No, Caitlin and Dr Macleod are right.” He said in agreed protest. “No, now that you're awake, we need to do more tests. You're still going through changes. There's so much that we don't know.”

“I’m fine. Really, I feel normal. Thank you for saving my life.” Barry protested as he continued to back out of the Cortex. 

“Bartholomew…” I warned but he had already ducked out of the Cortex.

“Really?” Caitlin blurted out right before Barry poked his head back into the room, one of his hand grasping the sweatshirt.

“Can I keep the sweatshirt?” Harrison let out another sigh before nodding his chin.

“Yeah, keep the sweatshirt.” 

“Thanks,” Barry said before completely disappearing. A solid minute went by before anybody moved a muscle. 

“Where did I go wrong in raising that boy?” I grumbled to myself, shaking my head before rubbing my forehead. 

“You did what now?” Cisco asked, turning to me. I crossed my arms and drummed my fingernails on them. 

“Not my story to tell,” I responded to Cisco before letting out a heavy sigh. “I suppose I should probably go reign him in, shouldn’t I?” 

“No, no, he’ll be back,” Harrison said, shaking his own head as he turned to me. “I’d expect that we’ll see him soon enough.” 

“We’d better,” I grumbled in a huff. “I did not spend nine months waiting for him to wake up only to have his stubborn ass get him knocked out for another nine.”

“Come on, Althea, you sound like you need a coffee, and a venting session.” Harrison said before rolling himself towards the door that led to the labs. As I moved to follow him, Cisco caught my eye and started mouthing words to me. 

_Go and get some!_

He gave me a thumbs up with a sly grin, to which I responded with a scowl at him. His hands went up in surrender as I left the room. Following Harrison into his lab, I ran into his chair. Wobbling in place, I practically fell into his lap. Instantly his arms were wrapping around my body and holding me in place.

“You okay?” He asked after half a minute went by of just sitting in silence. 

“As a mechanical engineer, I may not know much about the human body, but I do know enough to know that something is going on within Barry.”

“And that’s why we have Dr. Snow,” Harrison reminded me before grabbing his coffee from his cup holder and placing it in my hand. “She’ll take care of him, and help us figure things out.”

I stared down at the coffee cup before taking a sip, it was almost black, one sugar, half a cream, just the way Harrison and I drank it. 

“You don’t know Barry like I do,” I responded. “He’s going to push himself beyond his limit, I just know it.”


	9. It's Just My Head

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **Amaranthine:** She is eternally beautiful, unfading, everlasting, and undying, she is amaranthine. Althea Macleod is a mechanical engineer at the top of her career and in her prime as the leading scientist in the field around the world. In a last minute decision, Althea decides to head to Central City to visit an old friend, and witness the stunning invention called the particle accelerator. Little does she know that this last minute vacation will become far more permanent than expected.   
> **Warnings:** possible language  
>  **To Note:** Harry Wells x OC (it’ll take a little time to get here), A/U to fit plot lines, italics are flashbacks

Barry was excitedly recounting his experiences to Harrison, Caitlin, and Cisco while I leaned against one of the counters, drumming my fingernails on my arm. Naturally I had been right, something was going on with Barry, and the stubborn fool had found out about it outside the safety of the lab. 

So Caitlin was checking Barry’s vitals while Cisco listened with rapt attention and Harrison looked in deep thought. Barry finished recounting his experience and looked past Cisco at me. 

“You’re mad, aren’t you.” Barry said meekly as they all looked in my direction.

“Why Bartholomew dear, whatever is making you think that?” I asked in a tone that said ‘yes, I am very much mad at you at the moment’. Cisco winced for Barry while said man let out a sigh and rolled his head. 

“I didn’t get hurt!” 

“This time,” I challenged back before pushing away from the counter and narrowing my eyes at him. “Barry, we have no idea what the side affects are, I would have rather you found out about them in the safety of a lab than on the street were anyone can see you!” 

“Whoa there boss lady, don’t you think—“ I held up a hand to Cisco making him promptly shut his mouth. 

“You need to start exercising more caution, because someone, including yourself, could get hurt from this.” Barry lowered his head slightly as his hands fidgeted. 

“Then what do you suggest?” 

“Well for starters lets find out if you really can run that fast,” Caitlin muttered grumpily. She had been skeptical of Barry’s claims from the get go, and would need concrete proof. 

“Alright then,” I said, crossing my arms and looking to Cisco. “I believe that means you and I have some work to do. Come along Mr. Ramon.”

Cisco scrambled after me while Harrison watched as I strode from the Cortex with Cisco on my heels. I shot him a look that said ‘keep Barry here’ before disappearing from the room and heading for the Engineering lab. 

“Okay, so we’re gonna test out Barry to see if he can actually run as fast as he says he can.” Cisco said, clapping his hands together in excitement. “I’m assuming Caitlin will want to monitor his vitals so we’ll have to figure out a way to do that…”

“I’m sure we can divise a suit of some sort for Barry to wear that house the appropriate instruments.” I said as I booted up my station. “But considering what he speaks of, we should have an open line of communication with him.”

“Ah! I have just the thing!” Cisco said in excitement before running for a wall of cabinets odds and ends were stored. “I made it not too long ago, it’s typically designed to combat battlefield impulse noise, but in Barry’s case, it could protect from potential sonic booms, and retain radio contact.”

“Alright, we’ll include that along with a helmet,” I said as I opened a new document on my computer and pulled out my stylus. I scribbled down a bunch of notes, making sure to create a checklist of items that we would need to bring with us. “Lord knows he’ll probably trip over something and land headfirst…” 

“Is he really that clumsy?” Cisco asked, raising his eyebrows as he pulled out a lollipop and stuck it in his mouth. 

“You better believe it, might as well add knee and elbow padding.” I spoke up. “He’ll need them. Cisco, start up a mock suit to hold the instruments, I’ll work on a device that will be able to measure and keep up with Barry’s supposed energy output.” 

We both worked through lunch and into the afternoon, and by the time late afternoon rolled around symptoms of a migraine I suffered from since knocking my head started to appear. My eyes hurt, little flashes of light were going off, and I could feel my heart beat throbbing from the scar at my hairline.

“Hey Dr. Macleod?” I heard Cisco ask, biting down on my lip as a particularly bright flash of light crossed my vision, I looked up to Cisco. “How much internal airflow allowance should I consider?”

“Oh, uh,” I rubbed my forehead, the migraine developing was not helping my thinking process. “Use a molecular knot.” I waved my hand, still not able to process the words I wanted to say and giving up on science, I turned to the next best thing. “Think Men In Tights allowance.”

“Spandex, he’s going to love this,” Cisco responded a grin on his face, my lips twitched in response before a sharper lance of pain ricocheted in my skull like a pin ball. Letting out a hiss of pain, I gently massaged my scalp, trying to will the migraine away. “Wait, are you having a migraine right now?” 

“It’s fine,” I told him as he started walking over, abandoning the computer screen he had been in front of for the last few hours. “And it’s not a full one yet.”

“Hah, no, you need to rest before Dr. Wells rolls in and finds out that I let you continue working through a migraine, especially when we know that they knock you off your feet.” Letting out a harrumph, I moved away from my station. The first step I took and my world went sideways, making me stagger. Cisco jumped forwards and caught my elbow, steadying me on my feet. “Okay yeah, you need to lie down. To the office?”

Sighing as my eyesight, and my internal gyroscope went haywire, all I could do was simply agree, and wait out the migraine. Cisco helped me to Harrison’s office were I had pretty much spent many hours lying in darkness, waiting for my head to stop being a drama queen. 

Sitting down on the couch, I bent down and untied my shoe laces, pulling the comfortable sneakers from my feet and placing them neatly side by side. As I stretched out of the couch and grabbed the pillow I kept in the office, Cisco turned off all the lights, leaving me in complete darkness. 

“Cisco?” I asked as I got myself situated on my side, my head resting on the fluffy pillow. Cisco turned around in the doorway. “You are the best minion a boss could ask for.” 

I couldn’t see his face since he was just an outline in the doorway, but I knew he was grinning. Cisco ducked out of the doorway and quietly shut the door behind him, sealing me in a pitch black room. Closing my eyes, I tried to keep my body relaxed and focused on taking slow deep breaths. 

*****

_“No, you need to reverse the magnetism,” I said into the headset hanging from my right ear. “Otherwise we are dealing with another set of simple magnets, which may I remind you, we have no use for in this design?”_

_“Right, right, so we reverse the magnetism on the forward facing energy buffers, and that should give us enough magnetism to keep the two displacement rods apart and not rub together.”_

_“Essentially,” I answered dryly as I twirled the pen I had been using to write down notes. “If you guys can’t finish the installation tonight, you should finish it in the morning with freshly rested minds.”_

_“Yes, doctor, I will email you the results to look over, have a good day.” With that I said my goodbyes before removing the head set and setting it on the work table before me. After two months had passed since the accident, you’d have thought I was used to the headaches ensued by my head wound which was mostly healed by now._

_I didn’t know why, but along with my head aches, I had been irritable, probably related to my poor sleep as of late, nauseous, and had been craving all sorts of things. I simply could not concentrate on my work like I should be. Pushing away from my workstation with a heavy sigh, I got up from my seat and braced myself against the table._

_“You okay, Dr. Macleod?” I looked up from my table to see Cisco staring at me from where he had been tinkering with one of his latest invention._

_“Hm? Oh, I’m fine, just have a little headache,” I responded tiredly, rubbing my forehead. There was a pressure building up inside my brain and it did not feel good. Picking up one of the tablets, I decided to head over to the large prototype I had been working on since moving into the lab._

_Standing in front of the crude prototype, I opened up the settings on the tablet in my hands and started running through the engineering system checks. As I cycled through each system check, little ribbons of white started flashing across my vision and my headache increased to a steady throb._

_Letting out a soft grunt of pain, I blinked rapidly, trying to disperse the white flashes as I pressed a palm against my forehead._

_“Dr. Macleod?” Cisco asked, his voice was faint amongst the pounding in my head. “Are— are you alright? Because you look pale, I mean paler than usual.”_

_“It’s just my head—“ I groaned out before a sharp pain unlike anything I had ever felt before lanced through my brain. A startled cry of pain escaped my lips as I reached for my head with both hands, the tablet dropping to the lab floor._

_My world started to spin and get off kilter, my legs buckled and I went down hard on my knees before ultimately crashing onto my side. Cisco jumped off to the side, quickly abandoning whatever he had been tinkering with. He scrambled onto his hands and knees next to me, talking into his phone while I continued to clutch my pounding head._

_“Caitlin’s coming,” Cisco said in a quiet voice that still sounded thunderous in my mind. Out of the corner of my slitted eyes, I saw him wiggle out of his sweatshirt. “Here.”_

_Cisco carefully lifted my head and slipped his folded sweatshirt underneath it. It didn’t provide much relief from the internal battle of the jackhammers inside my skull but at least my head wouldn’t be resting on the lab floor._

_The sound of Caitlin’s heels hurrying across the floor sounded like claps of thunder in my ears, causing more groans of pain to come from my mouth. But by the time Caitlin crouched next to me, the lull and comfort of sleep felt to good to resist._

_The next time I opened my eyes, the thunderous pounding in my head was gone, but the lingering pain was still there. Letting out a soft groan, I lifted my hand to my head. My fingers touched wires and small electrodes attached to my forehead for only a few seconds before another hand was tugging them away._

_“I wouldn’t touch those unless you want Dr. Snow angry with you.” Rolling my head to the right, I saw my boyfriend of only a month sitting in his electric chair next to me, gently holding the hand I had used to probe my head._

_“What happened?” I asked, blinking my tired eyes against the low lighting before groaning. “My brain feels like I shoved my head into my electromagnetic torsion chamber and turned it on.”_

_“A vestibular migraine will do that to you,” Harrison responded with a twitch of his lips before he frowned slightly and reached to brushed the hair from the shaved wound at my hairline. “Caitlin ran some tests while you were out, scans show stress in your white matter.”_

_“I’m not going to pretend to know what that means,” I sighed out. “I thought the doctors at the hospital gave me the all clear?”_

_“They don’t have me, or our equipment.” Caitlin said as she walked over, tablet in hand. “How’s the head feeling?”_

_“Like someone tried to microwave it,” I grumbled in reply. “Care to explain why I suddenly had a migraine when I was given a clean bill of health only two weeks ago?”_

_“Still trying to figure that out, I’m afraid,” Caitlin responded as she looked down at the table. “But don’t worry, we’ll get to the bottom of this.”_


	10. Dramatic Much?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **Amaranthine:** She is eternally beautiful, unfading, everlasting, and undying, she is amaranthine. Althea Macleod is a mechanical engineer at the top of her career and in her prime as the leading scientist in the field around the world. In a last minute decision, Althea decides to head to Central City to visit an old friend, and witness the stunning invention called the particle accelerator. Little does she know that this last minute vacation will become far more permanent than expected.   
> **Warnings:** possible language  
>  **To Note:** Harry Wells x OC (it’ll take a little time to get here), A/U to fit plot lines.

Letting out a sigh, I shifted on the couch and stretched slightly, curling my toes and flexing my ankles. Rolling onto my back, I rubbed my slightly aching eyes with the heel of my palms. 

“Feeling better?” Lowering my hands from my eyes, I turned my head to the left to see Harrison in his electric chair next to the couch. He closed the book he had been reading and reached over to brush his fingers along my hairline. “How’s the head feeling?” 

“Still aches,” I replied softly before rubbing the side of my face and sitting up slightly. “What time is it?” 

“Two eleven in the morning.” 

“What!?” I exclaimed before lurching to a sitting position. “Why didn’t someone wake me up then?”

“Because a migraine is no laughing matter,” Harrison said, reaching over and setting a hand on my shoulder. “Althea, you need to rest.”

“I could say the same to you,” I snipped back, making him raise his eyebrows. “What are you even doing still up?” 

“I’m working the system codes that you designed to make sure they’ll be able to handle Barry’s potential energy, assuming that what he told us is correct.” I’m sure a normal scientist would have been pissed, thinking that they designed something without flaw, but then again, physics wasn’t my specialty. 

“Okay,” I muttered, lying back down and settling on my side. “Are they handling it? Because if they can’t, I’d rather know now then when we are actually out in the field.” 

“So far your coding exceeds the maximum allowance in the simulations I’m running,” Harrison said, briefly looking at his chair mounted screen before looking back down at me with a soft smile. “They’ll hold.” 

“Harrison?” I asked, looking up into his eyes. “If Barry really was affected by the particle accelerator, we have to assume that others have been as well, and that worries me.”

“That is a concern and a thought I have mulled over myself these past weeks.” Harrison responded, pressing his lips together and wrinkling his forehead in thought. “But not one you need to think about right now, Althea.” 

“So what I am supposed to be thinking about right now then?” 

“At this point in time, resting,” Harrison countered, running his fingers through my hair. “If you want to come with us for the testing of Mr. Allen’s speed, you need to be well rested.” 

“What are you, my mother?” I quipped at him before curling up, black flashed in my vision as I curled my arms in front of me. Wrinkling my nose, I glanced up at Harrison who had an amused smirk on his face. “And how exactly do you keep sneaking your sweaters on me without me noticing? Not to point it out, but you don’t seem mobile enough to perform that action without me waking up.” 

“Consider that my secret power,” He replied as I snuggled my face into the neckline that smelled like pine and musk. This wasn’t an unusual occurrence, me waking up wearing his sweater. I could just never figure out how he did it without me waking up, or how he did it from his chair. “You’ve never complained.” 

“That because they’re insanely comfortable,” I retorted before letting out a slow sigh. “But seriously, go home, get some sleep, please?”

“Always the worrier,” 

“For you, absolutely,” I responded before closing my eyes. 

*****

The next morning Cisco, Caitlin, Harrison, and I rolled out to the nearest abandoned runway to start the testing of Barry’s supposed powers. Hauling out the equipment, we set up a table for all of the testing machines and got a monitor set up and connected to the labs back at Star labs while Barry arrived and changed into the suit Cisco and I had quickly whipped up. 

I was setting up the computer that would measure Barry’s energy output, Harrison’s double checking early this morning proved that it would work like it should. It wasn’t a windy day in Central City, but the temperature had stayed lower than I liked, so I had ended up keeping Harrison’s sweater on. 

“Caitlin, do you have your readings?” I asked as I finished plugging in the computers and machines into the generator. Caitlin looked up from her tablet and nodded her chin, getting up from my crouch, I walked over to where Harrison had rolled in front of the monitor. “And how is everything look on your end?” 

“As it should,” Harrison replied as he started typing on the keyboard. 

“You don't really believe he can run that fast, do you?” Caitlin asked, voicing her disbelief in Barry’s story once more.

“Well, I believe anything is possible, and in a few minutes, maybe you will too.” Harrison told her as Cisco walked by, putting his hand on his hips as he approached the Star labs truck.

“How does it fit?” Barry appeared in the doorway of the truck, wearing the skin tight suit that was designed solely for the purpose of monitoring his physiological output. 

“It's a little snug.” Barry admitted as he stepped down the trailer steps. 

“Yeah, that’s because we used a molecular knot in the fabric,” I explained as I walked up to him and started checking the spots on the suits that contained the monitors. “Brings a whole new meaning to spandex, does it not?” 

“At least you will be moving so fast no one will see you.” Cisco said, clapping Barry on the shoulder brightly. “See, you thought the world was slowing down. It wasn't. You were moving so fast it only looked like everyone else was standing still. Dr. Wells will be monitoring your energy output, and Caitlin, your vitals.”

“What do you do?” Barry asked, turning to look down at Cisco. Cisco grinned.

“I make the toys, my man.” Cisco said gleefully before nodding at me. “Of course I have Dr. Macleod’s help in this one since she is a genius with this sort of thing, we need a little Macleod juice, but check it.”

Cisco held up the device he had shown me. 

“This is a two-way headset with a camera I modified. Typically designed to combat battlefield impulse noise, or in your case, potential sonic booms, which would be awesome.”

“Wait here,” I told Barry as I took the helmet and headed back to the table with Cisco at my heels. Caitlin took this chance to double check that she was reading the heart rate monitor and other sensors correctly. 

Setting the helmet on the table, I grabbed a screwdriver and started to carefully mount the circular device on the helmet where the left ear would be covered. 

“Cisco?” I didn’t need to fully voice my question, he reached for the second disk and promptly handed it to me. Flipping the helmet, I installed the disk on the other ear covering while Harrison rolled himself away from the table. 

“Mr. Allen, while I am extremely eager to determine your full range of abilities, I do caution restraint.” Harrison said as I walked back over with the finished helmet. Approaching Barry, I set the helmet on his head and did the chin strap.

“How does that feel?” I asked as I checked the snugness of the straps and made sure the helmet was securely on his head. 

“Tight,” Barry commented, my eyebrow twitched upwards as my lips curved into a half smile. 

“Then I’m doing my job, be careful out there, okay?” I asked him, my face turning serious. “I’d rather not lose anymore of my family.” 

“I’ll be careful,” Barry promised before moving to the track set up we had laid out. Cisco walked over with the machine to measure his speed while Harrison parked himself next to me and put his sunglasses on. 

“Dramatic much?” I muttered underneath my breath as Cisco got in his place. I pulled out my own tablet which would also show me the energy output Barry would give off. “Whenever you are ready, Barry.” 

He looked back at me from his crouched position before looking forwards and shooting forwards. In a crackle of power and sheet of wind, he burst forwards. Cisco and I stumbled backwards as papers from the table went flying. Even Harrison’s chair rolled back a little. Quickly getting to my feet, I looked down at the tablet I clutched.

“Cisco, speed,” I ordered.

“He just passed 200 miles per hour.” Cisco practically crowed while Caitlin stared with her jaw dropped open. 

“It's not possible.” She whispered out as she grabbed the binoculars. I focused down at the data Barry’s suit was giving me, my forehead bunching together. The energy was impossibly high, just as my eyes watched the line go up, it suddenly shot back down. 

“Barry!” I exclaimed, dropping my eyes from the tablet to look up as see faintly in the distance a burst of water from the water drums at the end of the runway. “Cisco, truck now!” 

***** 

Barry held his wrist in front of him as Caitlin looked over the x ray of Barry’s broken wrist. I had my arms crossed and was looking over her shoulder at the break, it looked pretty bad, a chuck of his radius floated free of the rest of his bone. 

“It looks like you had a distal radius fracture.” Caitlin mused, her brow wrinkling as she scrutinized the scan.

“Had?” Barry repeated the word, Caitlin turned the tablet so he could see, and swiped the screen to show his latest, fully healed bone. 

“It's healed... In three hours.” 

“How is that even possible?”

“We don't know...Yet.” I answered, giving Barry and stern look. “Now you understand why I am concerned? If you can heal this fast, who knows what else is going on with you.”

“And you really need to learn how to stop.” Cisco chimed in, raising the somewhat ruined helmet.

“Cisco…” I warned him, he gave me a ‘what?’, gesture before continuing on his way to download the information and data recorded. Harrison rolled up next to where I was standing.

“What happened out there today?” Harrison asked, his eyebrows furrowed. “You were moving pretty well, and then something caused you to lose focus.”

“I started remembering something.” Barry answered, twisting his hands together. I rocked back on my heels, pursing my lips together. “When I was 11, my mother was murdered.”

“Barry,” I said softly, placing my hand on his shoulder. He shook his head at me and placed his hand over mine. 

“It’s okay Al,” Barry said, giving me a small, pained smile. “I’m sure they’re all wondering how a seventeen year old became my mother figure.”

Barry took and another deep breath, and slowly let it out.

“It was late. A sound woke me up. I came downstairs and…” Barry paused, closing his eyes for a second before opening them and continuing. “I saw what looked like a ball of lightning. Inside the lightning, there was a man. He killed my mom. They arrested my dad. He's still sitting in iron heights for her murder. Everyone, the cops, the shrinks, they all told me what I saw was impossible. The only one I had to rely on was Althea, she was there for me when everyone was convinced that I was just seeing things.” 

“Barry had a habit of running away from his foster home,” I explained, drumming my fingers on his shoulder. “Spent hours in my lab hiding from the police, detectives, social services.”

“You hid him from the police?” Cisco asked, an excited look on his face. I cocked my head and shrugged my shoulder slightly. 

“In a way,” I said before looking down at Barry. “I hate to admit it, Barry, but technically, you where never hiding from Joe. I called him the moment you came to my lab to let him know where you were.” 

“Wait, you’re saying that Joe knew I was with you the entire time.” Barry asked, a look of hurt flashing across his face. 

“Barry, I was seventeen and working on my second project in hopes for a Nobel Prize, do you really think I wanted to get in trouble with the law?” 

“But Joe never showed up when I was in your lab!?” Withdrawing my hand from his shoulder, I picked at a stray bunch of his hair. 

“That’s because you were in a safe environment and not wandering the city, staying out of trouble, and he knew exactly where you were.” I told him. “Besides, I always had you home for dinner, and with your homework finished.” 

Barry huffed at me before he massaged his forehead. 

“Thea, what if the man who killed my mom was like me?” I stared into Barry’s eyes, wide and wavering with slight tears. 

“Well, I think I can say unequivocally,” Harrison said, cutting through the tension in the room. “You are one of a kind.”


End file.
